Amen. All right, we're there in Ezekiel chapter number 46, and we are almost done
with the book of Ezekiel. There's 48 chapters. Tonight we're in chapter 46.
After this we've got two more weeks, 47, 48, and we'll be finished. And it's one of
the longest, hardest books in the Bible, and thank you for sticking with us and
sticking with it as we've been studying this book together. And if you remember
last week, what we've been doing for the last several weeks is we've been in this
section, chapters 40 through 48, which are probably the hardest chapters in the
book of Ezekiel, and they deal with end times. And we spent several weeks going
through the different ideas that people have, theories that people have, in
regards to what these chapters are talking about, what they're referring to.
And I would give you the theory, and I would explain to you why we don't agree
with it, we don't believe it. Last week I gave you my theory, or at least my
thoughts on it, my idea, and today what we're going to do is we're going to
continue the same outline that we've been using in these chapters. I'm going
to go through very quickly and give you just a basic outline of the chapter. I
know some of you are taking notes of the outlines for the book of Ezekiel, so
we'll do that as quickly as we can. Then I want to give you just additional
information about last week's theory, or my theory as to Ezekiel's end times
prophecy, and then we've got several applications that I'd like to close with
tonight. So let me begin by giving you the basic outline, and if you're writing
notes you can maybe jot this down. This chapter again can be divided into two
sections. The first would be the section of worship at the temple, so if you're
writing that down or outlining that, you can write a number one or a letter A or
whatever, worship at the temple, and within that section you've got the first
section, which is the prince and the offerings, and that goes from verses 1
through 8, and I want you to notice that it has to do with this prince. It talks
about the east gate being shut and open, and when the east gate would be shut and
open in verse 1, it says, Thus saith the Lord God, The gate of the inner court that
looketh toward the east shall be shut the six working days, but on the sabbath
it shall be opened, and in the day of the new moon it shall be opened. And
again, I just want to show you again that this passage has to do with, at this time
or in this context, they are keeping that Old Testament Mosaic law, they're keeping
the sabbath days, they're keeping the new moons. Notice in verse 2 it talks about
the prince and how he would come to prepare the sacrifices. Verse 2 says, And
the prince shall enter by the way of the porch of the gate without, and shall
stand by the post of the gate, and the priest shall prepare his burnt offering
and his peace offering. And then in verse 3, we see how the people would then
worship at the gate. Notice verse 3, Likewise the people of the land shall
worship at the door, and it goes on to tell us about the sabbaths and the new
moons. Then in verses 4 and 5, it talks to us about the types of sacrifices that
would be given on the sabbath day. Notice verse 4, it says, And the burnt offering
that the prince shall offer. Verse 5, it says, And the meat offering shall be an
ephah of a ram. And then in verses 6 through 8, we read about the types of
sacrifices that would be given at the new moon. So in verse 6, it says in the
day of the new moon, and of course in the Bible and for the nation of Israel in
the Old Testament, they were on a lunar calendar, so the new moon as when they
would begin a new month or new season or whatever. And then in verses 9 and 11, we
have the next kind of section in this overall section, which is the feast days
and the festivals. And I want you notice that in verse 9, it talks about how the
people were to come out, come in and out during the feast. In verse 9, it says, But
when the people of the land shall come before the Lord in the solemn feast, he
that enters in by the way of the north gate to worship shall go out by the way
of the south gate. And he that enters in by the way of the south gate shall go
forth by the way of the north gate, and he shall return by the way of the gate
whereby he came in, but he shall go forth over against it. So they were actually
told how they were to come in and how they were to come out of the temple. Then
in verses 10 and 11, we're told about the prince and how the prince was with
the people during this time of sacrifices and feast. Verse 10 says, And
the prince in the midst of them, when they go in, shall go in, and when they go
forth, shall go forth. Then in verse 12, we're told about the prince and the east
gate again. Verse 12, Now when the prince shall prepare a voluntary burnt offering
or peace offering voluntary unto the Lord, one shall open him the gate. If you look
at the last part of verse 12, it says, One shall shut the gate. So it's just
references to the gate being open, the gate being shut. The gate is shut for six
days. It's open on the Sabbath day, and then the prince could go in and do the
sacrifices as needed. Then in verses 13 through 15, we get just a description of
the daily burnt offerings. Notice verse 13 says, Thou shalt daily prepare a burnt
offering. At the last part of verse 13, it says, Prepare it every morning. In verse
14, it says, And thou shalt prepare a meat offering for it every morning. In verse
15, it says, Thus shall they prepare the lamb and the meat offering and the oil
every morning for a continual burnt offering. So we have these instructions
about the burnt offerings and the daily sacrifices. Then after verse 15, so 16
through the end of chapter, we've got the second kind of section of this chapter,
which is the inheritance and the offering. So verses 16 through 18 is the
inheritance given to the sons and to the servants of the prince. Notice verse 16,
Thus saith the Lord God, If the prince give a gift unto any of his sons, the
inheritance thereof shall be his son. So he was allowed to give a gift to one of
his sons, and then the son would inherit that. But notice verse 17, But if he give
a gift of inheritance to one of his servants, so this is not a son, then it
shall be his to the year of liberty. And notice again that the Mosaic law is put
back into effect, and the Mosaic law flies in the face of, you know, American
idealism, because here in the United States of America, you know, we've been
taught life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, and we've been taught that you
can have property, and you can own property, and these things. But in the
Bible, this was not the case. In the Bible, God decided who got the land, and it was
given by inheritance, and people could sell the land, but that was just for
a short time, for 50 years. And then at the time of the year of liberty, it would
actually go back, notice verse 17, after it shall return to the prince. So if he
gave land to his sons, that was his son's forever, because it stayed within the
family. But if he gave land to a servant, it was their land until the year of
liberty, and if you study Leviticus and Deuteronomy and those passages, you'll
find that when they were to negotiate the price of the land, they were supposed
to take into account how much time they were allowed to have before the year of
liberty, and I've, you know, I've taught that before, and it seems like it rubs
Americans the wrong way, and they think, well, I don't like that idea, or whatever,
but you know what? God's right, you're wrong, all right? And if it goes against
what we think, then we need to just line up with what the Bible says, and you say,
well, what's the purpose of that? And the purpose of that, in my opinion, is this,
that no one was actually allowed to ever own land. At the most, you could just
lease it. For 50 years, you could lease land using our terminology. You could buy
land, but it was just yours for 50 years at the most, and then it went back, and I
believe the purpose for that, and the idea for that, is that at the end of the
day, this earth belongs to God. It never belongs to you. It never belongs to me. It
never belongs to any nation. It belongs to God. So the idea that we would think
that we can purchase land and own it, and that's our land, it's ridiculous. It's all
God's. Everything belongs to God. So that's the idea there, that he could give
it, and as long as it stayed within the family, it would be theirs forever, and if
it was given to a servant, it would be to the year of Liberty, and then after it
shall return to the prince. Then in verses 19 and 20, we have the place
offerings, the place where the offerings were prepared, and this is basically just
explaining that this temple had a kitchen area. Notice verse 20, then said he unto
me, this is a place where the priest shall boil the trespass offering, and
the sin offering, when they shall bake the meat offering, and then in verses 21
and 24, excuse me, through 24, we just continue with that idea of these kitchen
areas in the temple. Notice verse 23, and there was a row of buildings round about
in them, round about them for, and it was made with boiling places under the rows
round about, then said he unto me, these are the places of them that boil, where
the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifices of the people. So just
explaining the fact that this temple had a place in it where people would cook
and bake, and obviously all of those things. So that's just a basic outline of
this chapter. Let me go and kind of jump into the theory a little bit. Keep
your place there in Ezekiel, but go to the book of Genesis, Genesis chapter 3,
and it should be fairly easy to find, first book in the Bible, Genesis chapter
3, and I don't have time to go back and and re-preach last week's sermon, and I
don't think you would want me to, because I gave a lot of information, and we moved
pretty fast. So if you didn't hear that sermon, if you weren't here for that, I
would encourage you to go back, even if you were here for that, and you're just
kind of not completely settled in all the way, I would encourage you to go back
and listen to it. And again, I want to make sure you understand this is just a
theory, this is just my theory, it just seems to be the only theory, at least
that I've came across, that seems to fit the idea that Ezekiel 40 through
48 is end times prophecy, but yet there are sacrifices, and there are all those
things, and if you remember, and again I'll just quickly kind of try to explain
it, the theory, my theory, or my belief in regards to these chapters, is
that Ezekiel's end times prophecy chapters, Ezekiel 40 through 48, is
describing for us what the end times would have looked like under the first
covenant, or under the first testament, and we know that the first covenant was
repealed and removed, so it's not going to happen. What's going to happen was in
the book of Revelation, which is the end times described under the second covenant,
but God gave this covenant, God gave this prophecy to the children of Israel to
explain to them that he had an end game for them, he had a plan for them, and
when they walked away and rebelled from God, they walked away from that plan. Now
I want to just answer one very important question tonight, because I actually had
several people after the service, or over the last week or so, ask me this same
question, so obviously if three people are asking the same question, I'm sure
there's many of you that are wondering the same thing, and I want to answer that
question, and the question is this, if Ezekiel 40 through 48 is what the end
times would have looked like under the first covenant, if the first covenant
would have continued and there would have never been a second covenant,
that's what the end times would have looked like, that's what would have
happened, then how does Jesus fit in to Ezekiel's end times prophecy, and the
question is this, does that mean that Jesus would not have died if the first
covenant would have continued, what role would Jesus have played? So I want to
answer that question tonight, and then I want to just give you a few applications
out of this chapter, I think it's important to answer that question. Now
you're there in Genesis chapter 3, and I want you to notice that this is of
course right after the fall of man, Adam and Eve have just sinned, sin entered
into the world, death has entered into the world, the wages of death have
entered into the world, and God is dealing with this idea of sin and death
and the consequences of sin and death, now I want you to notice one of the very
first things that God says to Adam and Eve right after sin or after the fall of
man as it's commonly referred, Genesis 3 14 the Bible says this, and the Lord said
unto the serpent, and of course God's been kind of giving out his
punishments and he's been telling Adam that he's gonna have to work the ground
of the field and he's telling Eve that she's going to have to in pain
give birth and labor, and then God here is speaking to the serpent which is the
devil, and it says and the Lord God sent unto the serpent because thou has done
this, thou art cursed above cattle and above every beast of the field and upon
thy belly thou shalt go and thus shalt thou eat all the days of thy life, notice
verse 15, and I, this is God speaking to Satan, I will put enmity between thee and
the woman and between thy seed and her seed it shall bruise thy head and thou
shalt bruise his heel, now this is probably as far as I can tell the first
prophecy having to do with the coming Messiah with the Lord Jesus Christ
because God is looking at Satan who has won this round in regards to the battle
for the souls of men because he was able to trick Eve into sinning or deceive
Eve into sinning and Adam of course disobeyed and followed along with his
wife and now they've been condemned and God looks at Satan who orchestrated this
and he says I'm going to put enmity between thee and the woman between thy
seed and her seed and the idea is this that the woman Eve is going to have
fruit and we're all descendants of Adam and Eve but there's going to be one of
those descendants a human descendant that's going to come from Adam and Eve
and that descendant God is telling Satan you're going to bruise his heel meaning
you're going to injure him but it's not going to be a fatal injury but he shall
bruise thy head meaning he's going to give you a fatal blow and this idea of
course is that Jesus was wounded by Satan when he died on the cross but it
wasn't it wasn't a devastating you know completely bring everything to an end
type wound because of course of the resurrection but Jesus will one day and
he's already had victory over Satan and one day that'll all come to pass of
course we read about that in the book of Revelation here's the point that I want
you to understand all the way back in the book of Genesis all the way back in
the Garden of Eden God had already foretold that there was a coming seed a
coming Messiah a human being that would bruise the head of Satan and that would
bring salvation and by the way this is before the Old Testament as we know it
the old covenant the Mosaic covenant was given so I want you to understand this
that the plan whether the first covenant or the second covenant has always been
the Lord Jesus Christ it's always been about Jesus in the first covenant that's
all we read about you read Leviticus every single offering is a picture of
Jesus Christ all of the prophecies in the Old Testament the book of Acts tells
us that all of the prophets prophesied and spoke about Jesus and that's why we
can study the Old Testament and we get all sorts of pictures and ideas and
symbolisms and shadows and prophecies and and and and emblems of the coming
Messiah because Jesus has always been the plan he's always been the the way of
salvation it's always been the Lord Jesus Christ and even here in Genesis
we're told that were that there was a prophecy of Jesus and that happens even
before the first covenant is given all right go to Revelation chapter 13 so
we're in Genesis first book of the Bible and we see very early in the history of
man right after the fall and there's that's not a coincidence is because
right after the fall is when man was condemned that this idea of a Messiah
or Jesus is introduced Revelation 13 I'd like you to notice verse 8 now I'm going
to show you a verse that we're not going to look at the primary context is we're
not interested in the primary context but there's a description in this verse
that is interesting in regards to Jesus and the fact that he's been the plan
from the beginning Revelation 13 verse 8 and all that dwell upon the earth
Revelation 13 8 shall worship him whose names are not written in the book of
life okay so the context is about people who are worshipping the beast
and their names are not written in the book of life but I want you to notice
how the book of life is described it says and now it's telling us that these
people's names are not in there but it says that whose names are not written in
the book of life notice of the Lamb so the book of life is the book of life of
the Lamb notice the wording from the foundation of the world I want you to
notice that Jesus was the the the lamb the Bible says that was slain excuse me
I missed that word there it's the book of life of the Lamb slain from the
foundation of the world so here's the idea before God ever even laid the
foundation for this planet before God even created you and I there was already
a plan there was already an understanding that Jesus would be the
lamb that was sacrificed the sacrificial lamb slain from the
foundation of the world and you say well how you know why is it that God created
us and yet he knew that his son would have to die as a sacrifice for us well
if you go back to last week's sermon you'll learn or remember that God knows
the end from the beginning God knows everything that's going to happen and
how it's going to play out so Jesus was the lamb slain from the foundation of
the world Jesus was already predicted before the first covenant go back to go
to Ephesians chapter 3 Ephesians chapter 3 you've got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts
Romans first 2nd Corinthians Galatians Ephesians Ephesians chapter 3 and look
at verse so I need to look at my notes real quick make sure I didn't miss
something here Ephesians chapter 3 look at verse number 3 Ephesians 3 3 Ephesians
an interesting book it's probably the book we're going to study after the book
of Ezekiel and it says this Ephesians 3 3 how that by revelation and I don't
have time to develop that when we are in Ephesians 3 we'll take the time to do it
but you have to remember that the natural man receive is not the things of
the Spirit of God the natural human being an unregenerated human being an
unsaved human being they cannot understand the things of the Spirit of
God you if you hand them a Bible they're not gonna they're not gonna open it read
it and understand the plan of salvation they'll understand it if somebody who's
saved who has the Holy Spirit takes a spiritual book and explains it to them
but they need that help and here we're told how that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery now later on here he's going to call it the mystery
of Christ in other places the gospel is referred to as a mystery you say why
because the natural man cannot understand it the natural man cannot the
natural man can look at creation and they will realize that there is a God
based on creation and they will realize that there is a God based on their own
conscience that God placed in their heart Romans 1 Romans 2 and that
creation and that conscience will reveal the Bible says the wrath of God there is
enough in creation and in our own conscience to condemn us to show us that
there is a God and we are accountable to that God but as far as the message of
salvation that message has to be preached through a soul winner that has
the Holy Spirit of God and has the Word of God that message no unsaved person
would just come to that message on their own the Bible clearly teaches that all
throughout the New Testament and here Paul tells us that by revelation he made
known unto me the mystery as I wrote a four in few words because you remember
Paul or Saul of Tarsus who's a very religious man who studied and read the
Old Testament very much did not understand the gospel till he met Jesus
on the road of Damascus and even then he needed Ananias to explain to him the
gospel three days later and get him safe so this is what Paul's referring to he
says how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery as I wrote a
four in few words whereby when ye read ye may understand my lot my knowledge in
the mystery of Christ notice verse 5 which in other ages was not made known
unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his notice how he connects
the New Testament with the Old Testament he says look it was in other
ages it was not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed so it's not
that it wasn't made known is that in the Old Testament the plan of salvation they
understood that there was a sacrifice that would be made for their sins they
understood that they had to call upon the Lord for salvation but they didn't
understand every little detail like you and I understand today because they
obviously didn't have the New Testament they didn't have those same revelation
that we have today this is what Paul is saying verse 3 which in other ages was
not made known unto the sons of men as it is now revealed unto his holy
apostles New Testament and prophets Old Testament by the Spirit so I want you
to notice he connects the two and in Ephesians he even talks about this house
that is built up upon the foundation of the apostles and the prophets and of
course the cornerstone is the chief cornerstone is the Lord Jesus Christ
notice verse number 11 and I want you to I read all that to give you the
context that there was a time when the plan was not as clear as it is now it
was not made known unto the sons of man's at is as it is now revealed but it
was always the plan notice verse 11 according to the eternal purpose which
he referring to God the Father purposed in Christ Jesus our Lord see the eternal
purpose is meaning this that the purpose that God the Father had for his son
Jesus Christ had an eternal purpose it was always the plan it was always the
plan of salvation it was always the plan of redemption look we are not
dispensational this dispensationalist will teach you that salvation was by
works in the Old Testament that didn't work so it's why Jesus in the New
Testament that's not gonna work eventually so it's gonna be another way
later on look the plan has always been salvation through Jesus Christ and the
sacrifice left he's a lamb slain from the foundation of the world so then the
question is this well how does that play in to Ezekiel 40 and 48 if Ezekiel 40
and 48 was the description of the end times under the first covenant how did
people get saved well number one they got saved the same way people in the
Old Testament got saved which is just by faith looking to Jesus we by faith look
back to Jesus believing that he died for our sins they were believing that the
Messiah was coming but then what about the sacrifice and here's the point and
then again this is just my theory I'm giving you you know I want to make these
disclaimers these are just my thoughts here's what I believe I believe that if
the Jews would not have messed up because remember the fault in the first
covenant was not with the Covenant but with the people there was no problem
with the Covenant the Covenant was fine nothing God does has a problem with it
but when we get involved we seem to mess it up so the first covenant had no
problem with it it was the problem with the people and the inability of them to
keep that covenant so here's what I believe I believe that if the Jews would
have not messed up and the first covenant would have continued and there
would have been no need for the second covenant and again we're talking in ifs
and in theories now but let me just you know help you understand this I believe
that Jesus would have still came and still would have been sacrificed I just
think it would have played out different it wouldn't have been the Jews
pressuring the Romans to crucify him I and I'm not gonna explain to you how I
don't know how it would have played out I don't know how it would have happened
I don't know how it would have gone but I just believe that that he would have
still been sacrificed because all of those sacrifices in the Old Testament
in the Old Covenant we're picturing Jesus there's all these prophecies of
Jesus and the Messiah coming and even as you get towards the end of the Old
Testament when you get to Isaiah we learn about the suffering Savior when
you get to Psalm 22 Psalm 22 is probably the most descriptive prophecy of the
death of Christ I mean it clearly defines a death by crucifixion even
before the crucifixion death had been invented but but but even with that
you've got a prophecy of a Savior being crucified but you don't necessarily have
a prophecy of the Jews doing it so the point is this that I believe that if the
Old Covenant would have continued Jesus would have still came and you still
would have sacrificed himself as a payment for our sins we I just don't
know how that would have played out I don't know how that would have gone but
that would have happened because of the fact because of the fact that he was a
lamb slain from the foundation of the world now when would that happen because
we have this idea that you've got the first covenant you've got the the time
of silence then you've got the New Testament Jesus shows up and brings the
New Testament but keep in mind that when Jesus came he came to end the Old
Testament and to begin a new thing and and and he basically shows up to land
the plane of the Old Testament and he begins a new work in the world through
the local New Testament Church so when Jesus showed up he showed up to close
the Old Testament now I realize that the Bible teaches us in Ephesians that that
God sends his son in the fullness of time I realize that Romans tells us that
he came at the right time in due time he came to die for our sins so I'm not
going to sit here and pretend like I know the thoughts of God or the ideas of
God but if I had to guess and if I just had to give you my opinion my opinion
would be this that when you got if the first covenant continued when you got to
the end of that covenant what we're reading in Ezekiel 40 and 48 that's when
Jesus would have came and he would have sacrificed himself and he would have
closed down that sacrificial giving so either way the sacrifices are going away
into eternity that's my thoughts those are my ideas again I'm giving you a lot
of opinion I don't like to generally do that in a sermon but some of you ask
questions about that so I kind of want you to understand how that could play
out in this prophecy and of course this is all theoretical because the old
covenants done we're in the New Testament we're playing a different game
but hopefully that helps you understand a little bit of how that could have
happened and we're not absolutely not saying that if the New Covenant of the
first covenant would have continued Jesus would not have played a role Jesus
is the role Jesus is that's what he's it's all about the first covenant the
segment it's all about Jesus the only thing that changed between the first
covenant and the second covenant is the instrument that God was using in this
world he was using the nation of Israel they failed so then he moved away from
the nation of Israel and he began to use the local New Testament Church but both
were supposed to be preaching Jesus both were supposed to reaching the gospel
both were supposed to be preaching salvation by grace through faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ so hopefully that helps you a little bit let me give you
some quick applications just from this chapter just some things that that might
help you just in in your life and just some things that I thought were
interesting that I noticed in this chapter if you go back to Ezekiel and
look at verse number chapter 46 look at verse 10 let me just give you some
things that kind of jumped out at me in regards to to teaching and application
because remember even with the Old Testament even the book of Leviticus we
can still apply things to our life learn from it have symbolism that that helps
us and in Ezekiel 46 and verse 10 the Bible says this and the prince in the
midst of them when they go in remember they were gonna go into the temple when
they go in the Bible says shall go in and when they go forth shall go forth
now lots of people like to debate about this prince who is this prince is it
Jesus you know the the two major views are that the prince is Jesus and end
times prophecy some people believe the prince is David and not Jesus and here's
the thing I think and I explained to you in another sermon that it's both I think
Jesus and David are both can play part in this end time prophecy I specifically
think that here in Ezekiel 46 this prince is is not Jesus and maybe it's
just a leader that's that's helping lead in in in this worship but either way
whether it's Jesus David or whoever the idea is that this prince represents
Jesus or represents the presence of God because here's the truth even in our New
Testament you're not supposed to follow me simply because I'm your pastor you're
supposed to follow me as I follow Christ we're supposed to follow men who are
following Christ so whether whoever we're following the ultimate person
we're really following is the Lord Jesus Christ and God and what's interesting is
that this prince is in the midst of them and when they go in the Bible says that
he shall go in and when they go forth the Bible says shall go forth meaning he
shall go forth so the idea is that this prince was going to be with them was
going to stay with them okay keep your finger there in Ezekiel go to Hebrews
chapter number 13 just real quickly Hebrews chapter 13 so again this prince
represents I believe the Lord Jesus Christ and this prince was going to stay
with them when they went in he went in when they went out he went out and this
is a great lesson for us in the New Testament with our Prince of Peace the
Lord Jesus Christ in Hebrews 13 and verse 5 the Bible says if you start at
the end of the New Testament and head back you've got of course Revelation
3rd 2nd and 1st John 2nd and 1st you know Jude 3rd 2nd verse 3rd John 2nd
and 1st Peter and James and Hebrews Hebrews chapter number 13 look at verse
5 let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such
things as you have the Bible says for he has said I will never leave thee nor
forsake thee so we have this Prince who is following the people when they go he
goes when they come he comes but I think that's an illustration of our Prince the
Prince of Peace and how he goes with us where we go and when we go he goes and
when we come we he comes and it's not that we're following him but there is
this idea that he will never leave us nor forsake us that we are never alone
when we are with God so keep your place there in Hebrews because we're going to
come back towards that part of Scripture but go back to Ezekiel and
look at chapter 46 let me give you just kind of another another quick thought
or application that we can take from the Old Covenant and apply to ourselves in
the New Covenant or the New Testament Ezekiel 46 looking verse 13 the Bible
says this thou shalt daily prepare a burnt offering in the Old Testament
meaning the Old Covenant there was supposed to be a daily sacrifice the
sacrifice that was done daily and here this was they he talks about the burnt
offering which was a an offering that was completely consumed for God nobody
ate from it it was completely burnt for God unto the Lord of a lamb of the first
year without blemish thou shalt prepare it notice what it says there at the end
of verse 13 every morning and then in verse 14 it says and thou shalt prepare
a meat offering this was a like a flour bread pancake type thing that was baked
and it was to be done for it every morning look at verse 15 thus shall they
prepare the lamb and the meat offering and the oil every morning for a
continual burnt offering now go to Romans Romans chapter number 12 and you
say well what's you know we're not in the Old Covenant anymore and you're
right there are no longer sacrifices that we are to do meaning literal
physical sacrifice where we take a lamb or a bullock or an ox and sacrifice it
to the Lord but if you remember one of the transitions from the Old Testament
New Testament that everything got personalized they used to have a
building they call the temple now you've got a body that's called the temple they
used to have these sacrifices that they would actually sacrifice to God as a
picture of their willingness to submit to him but in the New Testament the
Bibles tells us this Romans 12 verse 1 I beseech you therefore brethren by the
mercies of God that you present your bodies a living sacrifice so notice it's
not a a sacrifice we kill but God says that you are to present your bodies a
living sacrifice holy acceptable to God which is your reasonable service you're
supposed to offer yourself up to God as a sacrifice in the Old Testament they
offered a bullock and a ram and those different animals as a picture of the
coming in New Testament in the New Testament you're supposed to offer
yourself not as a dying sacrifice but as a living sacrifice you say well how
often are we supposed to do that go to 1st Corinthians chapter 15 and then
Romans just flip over to 1st Corinthians 15 knows what Paul said who wrote Romans
chapter 12 he says in 1st Corinthians 15 in verse 31 I protest by your rejoicing
which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord he says I die daily so notice that in the
Old Covenant they were to give a daily sacrifice but in the New Covenant we are
still to give a daily sacrifice the sacrifice is you you're supposed to
offer yourself every day to God look every day you should wake up and say
Lord I give myself to you I'm offering my body as a living sacrifice I will do
what you want me to do I will go where you want me to go I will say what you
want me to say I will look at what you want me to look at and and I'll consume
what you want me to consume and I won't look and I won't consume and I won't go
and I won't touch and I won't do what you don't want me to do because as far
as I'm concerned I'm dead every day the Bible says that we are to give ourselves
the Bible Jesus would talk about taking up your cross which is a picture of
death denying yourself every day Paul would say I am crucified with Christ
nevertheless I live yet not I but Christ liveth in me he says and the life
that I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God who loved me
and gave himself for me and here's the truth we are supposed to wake up every
day and say Lord we offer ourselves as a sacrifice to you and we are not going to
die this is a living sacrifice but we're not gonna live for ourselves we will
allow you to live through us such a sacrifice a daily sacrifice just like in
the Old Testament go back to Ezekiel keep your finger there in 1st Corinthians
I know I've told you to keep your place somewhere else but keep your place in
1st Corinthians as well because we're gonna come back to it let me give you
something else to consider in Ezekiel 46 verses 19 through 24 we see the place
where the offerings were prepared and we are given a glimpse of the kitchen in
the temple in verse 20 it says then said he unto me this is the place where the
priests shall boil the trespass offering and the sin offering where they shall
take the meat offering that they may bear them not out into the utter court
to sanctify the people number 23 he says and there was a row of buildings run
about in them run about them for and it was made with boiling places under the
rose roundabout then said he unto me these are the places of them that boil
when the ministers of the house shall boil the sacrifice of the people I just
think it's interesting and I'd like you to go to the book of Acts Acts chapter 2
in the New Testament of course you got Matthew Mark Luke John Acts Acts 2 I
think it's interesting that God takes the time to describe for us that this
temple that he has he makes sure to tell us it has a kitchen in it and you know
sometimes when we think about the sacrifices of the Levitical priests we
we like to romanticize them and spiritualize them and and and to an
extent we should they're doing a spiritual work we understand that but
when it came to the actual work I mean these guys were basically butchers they
were butchering you know animals and they were grilling it you know and when
they brought in a meat offering and they were bakers and they were baking bread
and baking pancakes and and God if you say Leviticus he gives them different
ways to do it he says you can bake it in an oven you can fry it on a pan you know
you can do all these different things these guys were like chefs you know they
were basically just killing animals and cooking them and they were eating them
and they were the people were eating them and and you know food and fellowship
has always been an important part of the worship of God and in the old
covenant the temple whether it's Ezekiel's temple or any temple had a
place in it where these animals were to be killed where they were to be cooked
and people would come together they would have feast and they would
fellowship together and this is again is something that we have a glimpse of or a
mention of it in the New Testament Acts chapter 2 and verse 42 the Bible says
this and they continued Acts chapter 2 verse 42 and they continue to
steadfastly in the Apostles doctrine that's the teaching right that's the
preaching that's what we're doing right now teaching and preaching but then also
they not only continued in the Apostles doctrine they also continued and the
Bible says and fellowship and in breaking of bread and in prayer I want
you to notice that God's will for the local New Testament Church is not just
the Apostles doctrine now that's an integral part of it that's an important
part the teaching and preaching ministry is obviously important to the life of a
church but that's just part of it another part that's also important is
fellowship another part that's also important is the breaking of bread and
and the prayer and and and and spending time together and look this is why
YouTube and YouTube ministries and and preaching online it's all well and good
as as something you add on to your faith but you can't replace the local New
Testament Church with a YouTube live stream with a Facebook live stream you
say why but I can get the same preaching yeah but you know what you're not
getting is a fellowship you know what you're not getting is the friendships
you know what you're not getting is the doughnuts and the coffee and you say
well what's the big deal about the doughnuts and coffee it's time that we
get to spend together and we get to be because look we're a family spiritually
and that's important and and in some ways you can't make it and the Bible
teaches us you can't make it in the Christian life on your own God wants you
to be part of a community of believers and here's the thing you can listen to
the YouTube sermons all day long and great wonderful but you know what no
one's gonna pray for your mom when she's in a car accident because it is the
relationships that we build it is the friendships and the fellowship that we
have and and there's no way better way that fellowship than over food so let me
encourage you you say well I'm here I'm already here at Verity Baptist Church
you know I'm not the YouTube person you're preaching to but let me encourage
you make sure you make time to fellowship make sure you come you know
early and stay late and when we have potlucks and when we have cake and we
have ice cream and we have these things hey you know when we have these events
when we have dinners when we have different things that go on don't just
say oh I don't need that I just need the preaching no you need the fellowship too
you need the friendships too you need the relationship too food and fellowship
was an important aspect of worshiping God in both the Old Covenant and the New
Covenant let me give you one last thing go back to Ezekiel 46 look at verse 9
Ezekiel 46 and verse 9 the Bible says but when the people I'm giving you some
applications but when the people of the land shall come before the Lord so
remember they're coming to the temple which under the Old Covenant was the
house of God in the New Covenant the Bible tells us that the house of God is
the church of the living God the pillar ground the truth so the house of God is
the church when we come together we are the church the church is not this
building the church is all of you congregating together we make up this
local assembly of believers and notice they were told and this is this is for
for organizational purposes but it's also symbolic it says when the people of
the land shall come before the Lord when they go to the house of God and you
spend time with God and they spend time before the Lord in solemn feasts so
they're spending time with God and they're spending time with God's people
they're getting to know God and they're getting to know God's people they're in
the worship service and they're in the feast and fellowship time as well notice
the Bible says he that enters in by the way of the North Gate so he says if
somebody's traveling from from the north and they come in to the house of God by
the North Gate to worship notice the Bible says shall go out by the way of
the South Gate so he says he gives instructions he says if you come in
through the north entrance you have to go out through the south entrance and he
that enters in by the South Gate shall go forth by the way of the North Gate he
shall not return by the way of the gate whereby he came in but shall go forth
over against it now I believe that this had to do with the organization and you
know at these feasts there's a lot of people there and the whole nation will
show up for this and there and part of it had to do with actually the flow of
traffic and getting people in and out or whatever but there's another symbolic
application here and it is this that when you spend time with God and when
you spend time with God's people you should leave different than you came
they physically came in through the North Gate and left through the South
Gate they came in through the South Gate and left through the North Gate but you
know what spiritually when you come here and you spend time with God and with
God's people you should leave differently than you came I'm not
talking about you come in through the main foyer and you go out through the
secondary foyer I'm talking about you come in a certain way and you leave
different than you came you leave a different person you've learned you've
grown there's something that you can take home and apply to your life and
this is the goal of Verity Baptist Church you say why do you do what we do
here's why we do what we do because we need to build you spiritually go to 2nd
Corinthians chapter 5 let me just show this to you from the Bible and we'll
finish up 2nd Corinthians 5 and look and here's the truth if you are coming
to this church and you've been coming here for some time now and there's no
change you're not doing it right and I'm not saying you're not saved because I
don't believe that change is required for salvation the only thing is
required for salvation is believing on the Lord Jesus Christ but salvation is
one thing sanctification is another being saved changes the direction of
where you will spend eternity but being a follower of Jesus Christ being a
disciple of Jesus Christ it should have an effect and a change on your life and
look our goal is this that as you come here you leave differently that as you
come here there's a change 2nd Corinthians 5 17 this has to do with
salvation but I want to show this to you because of the fact that there's a
potential for change 2nd Corinthians 5 17 says this therefore if any man be in
Christ he is a new creature see unsaved people they couldn't they couldn't
become spiritual if they wanted to you couldn't become spiritual before you
were saved but once you got saved now there's a new creature in you all things
are passed away behold all things are become new go to 2nd Corinthians chapter
3 look at verse 18 2nd Corinthians chapter 3 and verse 18 the Bible says
this but we all with open face beholding as in a glass and I don't have
time to to go through the passages for this but I would just say this that in
the Bible the Bible refers to itself as a mirror or a glass that you're supposed
to look into and here we're told but we all with open face beholding as in a
glass the glory of the Lord here's what he says we're supposed to take the Bible
every day as we tell God that we are given ourselves as a daily sacrifice and
we'll say look God I'll do what you want me to do I'm gonna offer myself as a
daily sacrifice what would you like me to do I'll tell you the first thing you'd
like you to do open up your Bible and read it and the book of James tells us
that we look into this Bible and it is a glass it is a mirror and as we look at
it and we begin to see problems with ourselves we should begin to change
those problems we should begin to grow we should begin to learn and here we're
told the same thing we're told the application is a little different but
it's the same idea that as we behold as in a glass the glory of the Lord because
here's the thing when you open up the Bible you see two things you see God and
you see yourself you see the glory of God and what the goal is and what we're
trying to accomplish we're trying to be conformed to the image of his son and
then you see your own problems and your own mistakes and your own sin and we're
told this but we all with open face beholding as in a glass the glory of the
Lord don't miss this are changed are changed into the same image from glory
to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord see God will use the Word of God and
the Holy Spirit of God to change you so if you're coming here and you're just
struggling with the same old thing and you're just the same old person and
nothing's changed I'm not mad at you and I'm not telling you to stop coming here
I'm just telling you maybe you should start doing something with what you're
learning because the whole point the whole point is that you're supposed to
come here and leave differently and some of you are gonna start coming in through
the back door and leaving the front door just so you don't feel guilty but that's
not the point the point is that you come here unable to control your anger and
you leave here able to control your anger the point is that you come here
with an addiction and you leave here clean the point is that you come here as
a liar as a thief maybe you show up lazy and you leave being a hard worker
the point is this that we're supposed to come to this is why I think it's funny
when people come to me I don't like your church because every time I come to
church I feel guilty about something God's working on you why would you want
to go to a church that just affirms you you've got problems and I've got
problems I don't need anybody to affirm me I need someone to tell me where I
need to change 2nd Peter 3 18 says this but grow in grace in the knowledge of
our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ to him be glory both now and forever amen so we
see in this temple they were to come in one way and leave another way and in the
same way in the house of God the New Testament believer you should be coming
in one way and going out another way let's bow our heads and have a word of
prayer Heavenly Father thank you Lord for your word thank you for the Bible
thank you for the fact that we can even find New Testament applications to these
Old Testament passages even difficult passages like Ezekiel 46 and Lord I pray
that you would help us what I pray that you would help us to be a people that
would get up every day and learn some lessons from the Old Covenant we would
get up every day and say Lord we are giving ourselves as a daily sacrifice to
you not as a dying sacrifice but as a living sacrifice and we don't want to
live in ourselves we want you to live through us and Lord I pray that you
would help us to be growing to be changing to be looking into the glass
the mirror of God's Word and not only seeing the defects with ourselves but
seeing the glory of God and changing and being conformed to the image of your son
but I pray that you'd help us to be a growing people they're growing
spiritually they're growing closer to you in the matchless name of Christ we
pray amen